Domestic violence cases erased from police logs

When Brainree police sent out their daily log on Monday, it included something new: several thick black lines of marker drawn through the weekend’s policy activity.

The redactions were the result of a new law, signed by Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday, that prohibits police departments from releasing reports or daily logs with any identifying information about sexual crimes or domestic violence. The law’s supporters say it is meant to protect the privacy of victims, but open-government advocates say it will hide domestic violence from public view.

“This ends up protecting the perpetrators more than it does the victims,” said Robert Ambrogi, executive director of the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, which plans to push for changes to the new law next year. “I think it does a disservice to the community.”

The new rules, which were outlined in one of 43 provisions in the state’s new domestic violence law, prohibit police from releasing any information about arrests or incidents related to sexual violence or violence against a family member. Before the change, departments were required to include the information along with details about other police activity in a daily log available to the public.

The new law includes an emergency preamble, which means that most provisions are effective immediately. On Monday, three days after the law was signed, Braintree police released a daily log with thick black marker drawn through six domestic violence incidents and one arrest.

State Rep. Alice Peisch, D-Wellesley, said she pushed for the change after police chiefs told her that some women facing domestic violence were afraid to call 911 for help because they feared their address would be printed in the newspaper. Under the new law, information on domestic violence arrests would not become public until after someone is arraigned in court.

“It’s designed to protect the victim for a period of time, so as not to inhibit the call for help,” Peisch said.

But Ambrogi, the director of the publisher’s association, argued that there can be a compelling public interest in domestic violence cases that don’t reach an arraignment, such as those in which the alleged offender is a police officer or public official. And he said the changes would make it difficult for reporters to research larger domestic violence issues.

“There’s a valuable public service that we’re not going to be able to do anymore,” he said.

Not everyone in the law enforcement community is in agreement about the changes either. While some police chiefs supported them, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said he fears they could have “the unintended consequence of protecting abusers.”

“I think that the public’s right to know is important,” he said.

Toni Troop, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts domestic violence advocacy group Jane Doe Inc., said the organization recognizes the concerns raised by open-government advocates and would be willing to work on a compromise that balances the public’s right to information with the privacy concerns of domestic violence victims.

“The last thing we want to do is put this issue back behind closed doors,” she said. “That is not the intent here.”